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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. This piece is in a major ________________.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. My father caught me by the ________________.
  12. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  19. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. capital — a city
  3. game — a match
  4. capital — money
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. field — for sport
  8. key — in music
  9. chair — a leader
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. arm — a part of something
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. stock — shares
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. field — a subject
  18. key — for a lock
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. key — the most important part
  22. game — wild animals
  23. field — farmland
  24. chair — to sit on

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com